Naim is launching four new models in its Uniti Series. They are calling new Uniti “a highly advanced all-in-one streaming platform with five times the power of the previous generation”. There are many changes to the range but the most surprising perhaps is the ability to use USB and SD drives for music storage. The previous range required network connection to NAS drives which tend to be more expensive and fussy to set up. All three Uniti streamers can now be used to rip discs, albeit only one, Uniti Star, has an onboard drive, the others require the use of a peripheral disc drive.
The inclusion of SD cards as a storage medium is probably the most radical move apart from the styling, this has been a cult storage medium for a while but very few mainstream brands support it, the fact that Naim has put it on the two top Unitis suggest it has serious sonic potential. Another welcome change is an interactive remote that means you can change basic parameters without having to wake up your tablet or phone, and having a responsive front panel display means you know that it’s doing something.
The range starts with the UnitiQute and Lite replacement Uniti Atom at £1,600, this has a 40 Watt amplifier, analogue and digital inputs including optional HDMI, headphone and preamp outputs and full streaming capabilities including Google Cast, Airplay, Tidal and Spotify Connect. It can be used in multiroom installations and can play up to 20,000 tracks from a USB drive. The vTuner premium service provides internet radio and it comes with Naim’s new interactive remote control.
The Uniti Star (£2,999) takes over from the Naim Uniti and matches the Atom’s array of features alongside a CD drive and a 70 Watt stereo amplifier. It also adds the ability to play from SD card and has 5-pin DIN plus RCA phono analogue inputs. The disc drive can be used to rip CDs to a USB or SD drive.
The top dog Uniti Nova is £3,800, it doesn’t have a CD drive but like the Uniti Atom you can connect a CD-ROM drive and rip discs with it. Nova offers 80 watts and will replace the SuperUniti in the current range. The top two models can be purchased with an optional DAB radio module.
Finally the Unitiserve is being replaced with Uniti Core which requires third party memory in SSD or HDD form (up to 8TB) but does have disc ripping capabilities. Price is significantly lower than a 2TB HDD Unitiserve at £1,650, which reveals what it costs for Naim to include storage up front.
New Uniti features
Google Cast plays directly from enabled apps on a mobile or laptop.
TIDAL lossless streaming service.
Native support for Spotify Connect to stream from a portable device or laptop.
AirPlay and Apple Music.
UPnP streaming from a PC, Mac or network attached storage in high-resolution up to 32bit 384kHz or DSD128.
Bluetooth with aptX HD.
Internet Radio from the vTuner premium service.
Rip and Store (Uniti Core)
Rip and Store (Uniti Atom and Uniti Nova) with external USB CD/DVD drive and create bit perfect copies of CDs. Store up to 20 thousand tracks either on an USB stick/ USB hard disc (Atom) or USB Stick, SD Card or USB Hard Drive (Uniti Nova).
Rip and Store (Uniti Star) store up to 20 thousand tracks either on an USB Stick, SD Card or USB Hard Drive. Access your music from any connected Uniti player without the need for a separate music server.
Play, store and serve music simply and conveniently via the SD card slot (Uniti Star & Uniti Nova only).
HDMI-ARC connectivity, fuss free hook-up to a compatible TV. Fully galvanically isolated (Optional on Atom – Q1 2017).
Digital inputs via TOSlink and Coax.
3.5mm analogue input.
Multiroom playback of sources, including analogue ones, in multiple rooms (up to five rooms) in sync (Party Mode) or of having differing music in different rooms.
Front panel 3.5mm headphone jack with new upgraded headphone amplifier.
The user intelligent interface tailors and scales the front panel user experience to suit use by the remote control or locally. The Interactive Remote Control provides an always ready method to adjust the volume, change tracks, navigate to favourites or adjust the lighting.
Custom-designed Naim app to control both generations of Uniti products together with Mu-So and Naim’s network players. Available for iOS and Android devices.
Innovative visual dial inspired by our high-end Statement amplifier and the Mu-so series.
LCD Display. Access favourites at the touch of a button including iRadio presets.
Standby button for ease of use. Move close to Uniti and it will wake up from standby.
Production will initially focus on Uniti Atom and Uniti Core, ramping up output over Q4 2016. February will see the start of Uniti Star and Uniti Nova production.
